Rivers CP Joseph Mbu should be jailed or deployed to face Boko Haram — Soyinka

Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, on Thursday, took a swipe at the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mbu, saying that by now, he ought to be in jail.

Soyinka, at a memorial in honour of the late president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, said Mbu negated everything that had to do with Mandela, adding that he was a travesty of Mandela’s blessing to the African continent.

“It is a depressing coincidence that while we are opening this place with the central figure of Neslon Mandela, here we have in the other part of the country, the travesty of Mandela’s blessing, a complete and shameful travesty of what I like to refer to as the Mandela’s principle,” he said.

Speaking on the implication of what the Rivers police command did to Senator Magnus Abe last week, Soyinka said “commissioner or no commissioner, Inspector General of Police or not, any policeman or law enforcement officer who fires even rubber bullet at innocent citizens holding a meeting and causing others to be injured or traumatised should be in jail by now, no matter how highly placed.”

He said it was painful that there had not been a reaction of the presidency on the incident, adding that even the reaction from the Senate was that of trepidation.

“It is more shameful that up till now, we have not heard any response from Aso Rock. Even as far as I am concerned, the response from the Senate is trepid. I wish to pass a message to President Jonathan that there is fire in Aso Villa,” he said, while declaring that the suspect of the impending fire was Mbu.

He recommended that if Mbu were too powerful to be jailed, President Jonathan should send him to Maiduguri, Borno State, to prove his might against the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

“The ilk of Mbu is not required in peaceful state of Rivers or Osun or Lagos, no. People so tough and untouchable should be sent to Maiduguri to confront the greatest menace that this country is facing at this moment.

“I want to say that I am ashamed to be a citizen of a nation where a police commissioner will act with such impunity and open fire on unarmed people congregating in the society, expressing their fundamental human rights as upheld by the Supreme Court of this nation.

“People do not require a police permit to meet. The police are obliged to provide protection. So this is not an affair of Rivers State alone, it concerns everyone.

“If that psychopath were here, it means they have the right to teargas us and shoot us and he has the right to boast that this is just rubber bullet.

“Well, I dare Mr Mbu to use life bullet on human being. There is a place called International Crime Court against Humanity and I want to tell him that one of these days, he will find himself in that court and will go and keep company of the likes of Charles Taylor and killers of innocent people in Rwanda,” he said.